PANAMA CITY — Panama City Commission on Tuesday tabled a decision to cut down the Panama City Marina proposals because of the death of Mike Nichols’ brother Tom.
Nichols said he did not have time to prepare a decision, and although they agreed to table a vote, the other commissioners seemed prepared to narrow the field to two proposals.
“I don’t have a problem picking one,” Commissioner John Kady said.
Real estate consultant Owen Beitsch recommended Bluewater and HomeFed as his top two developers. Those two choices are the only developers with established local ties.
Bluewater founder Chris Hine keeps his business in downtown and has experience developing within the city with the Bluewater office complex on Beach Drive.
HomeFed is the parent company of St. Andrew Bay Land Co. and Jacob Fish would serve as the primary project manager for the marina. HomeFed purchased SweetBay for $65 million and is the process of developing the 700-acre Panama City property. Local attorney William Harrison is slated to be the everyday liaison between the city and HomeFed.
Beitsch said it was incredibly important to him that the developer have experience in Florida, particularly dealing with strict planning regulations in the state. He gave the example of the city working on a zoning issue with a property at 1612 Louise Ave., where spot zoning and nonconforming uses have both been issues. He said Florida is just one of three states that requires municipalities to update comprehensive plans regularly.
“It’s a very arduous environment to navigate,” Beitsch said.
The real estate consultant added that the scale of both HomeFed’s and Bluewater’s projects was reasonable for the city to deal with financially. Bluewater produced an initial estimate of $46 million to develop but said the project likely will be more costly. HomeFed was mum on a price in its original proposal, but Harrison said the project likely will cost upward of $100 million to develop.
Kady disagreed with Beitsch somewhat about the desire for a local developer, stating his original stance was that he wanted a company from the outside. He also cited MCM-BAP’s proposal, the company hailing from Miami, as being especially unrealistic.
“Folks that came out of Miami, they seemed to really not have an idea of the needs of this part of the state,” he said.
Mayor Greg Brudnicki compared the marina project to the New York Yankees.
“The Yankees would win three years in a row and they would bring in two more home run hitters. I’m of the opinion that we saw three groups and each brought something different to the table,” he said. “I want as many home run hitters as I can get.”
Brudnicki discussed hiring all three developers he favored — Bluewater, HomeFed and Great South — and splitting the project. This desire was inspired in part by Great South’s ambitious presentation on Friday detailing redevelopment of many areas of downtown.
“It’s such a huge project. There’s an opportunity for everyone,” he said. “I want to do what’s best for the city.”
In the instance of Great South, they already have put together a substantial team. Four different people were included in their presentation on Friday. Brudnicki acknowledged developers may be discouraged by having to split future profits.
“The easiest thing to do is to negotiate with one developer,” Beitsch said.
Jason Lewis, founder of Atlanta area-based Great South, said he was open to the idea of partnering with other developers.
“I believe in Panama City,” he said. “If that is the way they want to work, this is a great place and great project.”
In other business Tuesday, the commission:
- Appointed Pamelia Armstrong to the Downtown Improvement Board to replace Tony LiVecche. Nichols and Kady voted against LiVecche’s reappointment because of recent changes with the DIB. LiVecche needed 100 percent of the vote.
- Approved the commission to serve as the Community Development Council to serve as the administrative body for the TDC tax.
- Approved a new building and fire safety standards ordinance. The ordinance necessitates a fee for buildings requiring three or more inspections.
- Approved life insurance for employees through Florida Combined Life for $96,750.
- Approved a special event permit to block Harrison Avenue between Fourth Street and Oak Avenue for the Nov. 13 Hogs and Grogs. Alcohol will not be served for the event because the event falls outside of the period where alcohol is allowed for events on the streets. The DIB does not want to serve alcohol for financial reasons.
- Accepted the property donation of 845 Mulberry Ave., currently owned by Wells Fargo Bank.